


My Heart's A Stereo

by Eidraith



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: AU, F/F, LaF and Perry aren't childhood friends, LaFerry - Freeform, Other, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 02:37:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10548624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eidraith/pseuds/Eidraith
Summary: ‘I am a witch’s apprentice and I have trouble keeping my magic a secret and you are my neighbour and one of my spells went wrong so now my radio keeps playing really loud love songs whenever you walk past my door and I think this is sending embarrassing signals’LaF and Perry are not childhood friends in this.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For a good friend of mine who is obsessed with this ship and I blame her for this entirely, don't kill me for not telling you.

 

Miriam was going to be _furious_.

Perry’s most recent attempt at an advanced heating spell had left a new scorch mark in the wall, a metallic cauldron on the table that was still room temperature, and a very exasperated witch. She exhaled and felt her frustration seep away slightly when the flyaway strands of her hair gently moved behind her ear and underneath the green bandana that was keeping her hair up; at least she was still capable of _some_ magic.

Perry raised her hand and furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at the black mark that had ruined her lavender wallpaper, trying not to think about how difficult it would be to find similar wallpaper to match her upholstery, her palms felt warm as she drew on the feeling of power in her soul and her mouth opened to utter-

“Everything okay, Perr?”

Perry jumped and whirled around, her hand hitting something on a table nearby in the process; she cried out and shook her hand to take her mind off the pain. She looked up and saw LaFontaine stood in the doorway with some kind of contraption in their hands, an arched eyebrow and dirt marks across their face.

“Yes, everything’s fine in here, all perfectly normal” Perry placed her still throbbing hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side. “How about you, sweetie? Blow anything up today?”

LaF grinned. “Only minor sparks today, no need to call the fire brigade again!”

Perry rolled her eyes. “As if I was going to let you throw your life to chance all in the name of science, Laura might be all for some adventure, but someone needs to remind you that you are very much needed.”

LaF raised a hand and scratched the back of their head for a minute before looking back up at Perry sheepishly. “We only tried to duel with swords once?”

Before they looked, Perry picked up the cauldron and lifted up the oversized table cloth and hid it underneath the table. After LaF had spoken, Perry glared as she moved into the kitchen, knowing her friend would follow her. “At least you didn’t duel her girlfriend, Carmilla, is it? She actually knows how to fence, which is an odd pastime for such a young woman.”

“You want to talk about strange pastimes? There’s a giant burn mark on your wall that even I’m impressed by, and you have club soda in buckets in here, and that’s your stressed tell so what’s up?” They said as they leaned against the kitchen counter whilst Perry boiled the kettle and placed teabags and sugar into mugs.

“Work related, it’s nothing major…”

That was always the response, one of the conditions of Miriam tutoring her in the world of magic was that she couldn’t tell anyone about her abilities, but a vampire living in the building was perfectly fine. It genuinely perplexed Perry that LaFontaine could be so intelligent and yet was so stubborn in their beliefs that magic did not exist.

LaF’s eyebrows drew together. “Is there anything I can do?”

Perry shook her head and bit back a smile. “I’m afraid not, thank you.”

LaFontaine had a spark in their eyes that made Perry have to check she hadn’t accidentally just cast a spell; it was infuriatingly distracting whenever she was trying to perform any menial task.

As Perry was scolding herself internally for such inappropriate thoughts, music began to filter in from the living room.

 _Helpless!_  
_Look into your eyes, and the sky’s the limit I’m helpless!_  
_Down for the count, and I’m drownin’ in ‘em_

LaFontaine looked towards the radio that was on the floor currently playing the song from Hamilton and then looked back towards Perry with a question written all over their features. Perry muttered a curse under her breath and scurried towards the offending object, she picked it up and muttered a muting spell to keep it quiet until LaFontaine had left, hopefully it would work.

“I thought Laura was the only one of our merry little band that loved that musical? Got a guilty pleasure there, Perr?” She could hear LaFontaine’s chuckling getting closer as they walked back into the room with only one cup in their hand and the little contraption they had brought in the other.

Perry took the mug from the scientist and blew on it gently, not daring to attempt a cooling charm, in case she ended up freezing the entire block. “Are you not staying?”

LaF actually looked a little disappointed. “I can’t, I had to promise to help the vampire with some secret project in return for her being the guinea pig for one of my blood experiments.”

Perry shook her head, missing the feeling of her curls whipping around “I won’t ask, stop by whenever you get the chance though, I’m getting some salted caramel gelato when I go for groceries?”

_Okay, that was technically a lie, I’m making it with magic, but I need a test subject! Oh lord, now I am beginning to sound like them._

“Yeah I can come over either tomorrow or the day after, it sort of depends on if me and JP get our work done. I promise I won’t forget this time.”

Perry placed her mug on the table by her reading chair and looked back to see LaFontaine moving backwards towards the door, she smiled at them when they said their goodbyes. However before they could step out the door, the radio jumped to life and began to blare out another tune.

 _Don’t you forget about me_  
_Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t_  
_Don’t you forget about me_  
_When you walk on by_  
_Will you call my name?_

LaFontaine said nothing, just continued their journey out of the apartment and tossed a final comment over their shoulder before the door clicked shut. “Nice music taste you’ve got there”

Perry’s mouth was agape, one of the best feats of magic she’d been responsible for that wasn’t destructive in a while, and it was causing her to blush more than Laura did when she found out that Perry knew about the time where Laura and Carmilla had used her bathroom for less than sanitary purposes.

She grimaced at the thought; maybe it was time to give it another clean.

* * *

 

Perry sat, remembering a time when LaFontaine told her about their reservations when it came to physical relationships, she thought about JP and how unlikely it was that he would be focused on such a thing, but she couldn’t help but think that it wouldn’t matter to her. When LaFontaine hadn’t turned up on time, the radio started to play another song, much to Perry’s anger.

 _I don't want your body_  
_But I hate to think about you with somebody else_  
_A love gone cold_  
_you’re intertwining your soul with somebody else_

The radio soon sputtered into a temporary silence at the force of Perry’s glare.

* * *

 

“Well you didn’t destroy half the apartment this time, there are some positives to this accident, I suppose.”

Perry was grateful for the lack of the ‘why did I ever bother teaching you’ speech. “I can fix it, I just feel a little depleted at the minute, I haven’t had the chance to rest.”

Miriam turned and raised an eyebrow. “This is a minor spell, why are you so drained?”

The more inexperienced witch motioned towards the radio with a movement of her hand, it was sat in the middle of the table with white pillows wrapped around it with a binding spell, and Miriam’s facial expressions gave nothing away as to what she thought on the matter. She simply moved closer to examine the offending item, and then released the spell binding the makeshift silencer to it.

“This is quite impressive” Miriam thought aloud. “You’ve managed to animate the technology and maintain the power without so much as a second thought to it, how long has the spell been in existence for?”

“Two days” Perry replied.

Miriam’s eyebrows rose for a second before returning to their normal disapproving expression, her lips quirked into what was probably the closest thing to a smile that Perry had seen in a long time. “You’re very powerful, Lola.”

Perry’s eyebrows drew together thoughtfully; it wasn’t very often that Miriam called her Lola. “How do you even know what it does?”

“I overheard Miss Hollis and LaFontaine talking about the issue, I believe that our resident Veronica Mars has worked out your little problem.” The older woman spoke, not taking her eyes off the radio.

Perry’s eyes widened as she rushed to explain. “I know she’s aware of your magic there’s no need to worry.” Miriam reassured her. “There isn’t a lot that can be hidden from that one.”

Perry nodded thoughtfully, her mind casting back to the time she worked out Carmilla was a vampire, LaFontaine’s acceptance was heart-warming yet irksome, why could they accept vampires but not magic?

* * *

 

Perry’s eyes snapped open; she carefully got to her feet and stretched out her unused limbs from the meditative positioning she had held them in, the crashing that disturbed her continued next door.

She moved to the front door and opened it, shivering at the coldness of the hallway; she then turned left and cautiously walked to the adjacent door. Laura was already stood there, fidgeting and biting her nails anxiously.

“What’s happening, Laura?”

The woman jumped in surprise, she turned around and faced Perry with a frown on her face. “I don’t know, they just stalked past me muttering about co-workers and slammed the door. I don’t know whether to leave them alone or not…” Laura’s gaze turned to the closed white door and winced when another resounding bang occurred inside.

Perry laid a comforting hand on her shoulder “Let me take it from here, I’ll call if we need you”

Laura gripped the hand on her shoulder and squeezed tightly before nodding; she then turned away and went back to her apartment across the hall from Perry’s.

The witch took a deep breath before knocking on the door softly, there was no response from inside other than the sounds of more property breaking, her hand moved down and gripped the door handle before twisting it and pushing her way inside.

She found LaFontaine sat on the sofa with their head in their hands, their lab coat had been thrown across the room along with a vase which was now in pieces on the floor, and their hair was a mess which was probably the fault of LaFontaine’s nervous tick to run their hands through it.

Perry crept closer and kneeled by her friend. “LaFontaine? Sweetie?”

LaF’s heavy breathing didn’t slow and they didn’t look up.

“Honey, I need you to listen to me and focus on my voice, I need you to know that you’re safe and no one is going to hurt you while you’re with me. Can I touch you?”

A small nod was the only reply she received; their breathing became a little deeper.

Perry placed her hand on LaF’s knee and began to rub a rhythmic pattern on their trouser-covered skin; she repeated the pattern and her soft words until LaFontaine began to lessen the tension in their muscles.

“That’s it, you’re coming out of it, just keep breathing with me, there’s no rush.” She whispered.

The doctor soon sagged and Perry caught them in her arms, they moved off the sofa and on to the floor, Perry still cradling LaFontaine. Perry’s worried frown deepened as she felt her shirt become wet with tears, she manoeuvred her arm around their shoulders and began to run her finger through their hair.

It took a few more minutes but LaFontaine soon raised their head and wiped their eyes, sighing in annoyance. “How long?”

“Around half an hour, what’s wrong?” Perry replied, not stopping her movements.

They shook their head. “It’s nothing worth getting worked up over”

Perry’s eyes narrowed. “You told me you haven’t had a panic attack since high school; it must have been something to make you react like this.”

“Just some co-workers of mine, they’re not exactly forward thinking when it comes to equality and gender.”

Perry gritted her teeth. “What happened?”

She pulled out a packet of tissues she always kept on her person, it never hurt to be prepared, and offered one to them, they took it and wiped their nose before talking.

“JP and I normally get control of the rotation for who is in what lab at what time during the week, but it was out of our hands this week so we had to share a lab with a few people who I normally like to avoid. They came in and Jeep and I tried to get along with them but one of the guys soon started in on me with the whole ‘less about the she and more about the they’ thing, he made a few comments about me not being right in the head and misgendering me along with the whole ‘you like women too? Maybe you just haven’t been fucked properly yet’ bullshit”.

Perry felt a thrumming beneath the surface of her skin, _how dare these people-_

“No Perr, don’t even think about saying anything to them.” They interrupted her thought process.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “What makes you think I was even considering that?”

“You’ve got that look on your face, it’s the same look you had when Carmilla’s mother came to visit and you ended up having a rant at her in front of the entire Karnstein family.”

They had her there, what was she supposed to do? Sit around and let that intolerable woman verbally bully her daughter and Laura? Not on her life.

“They should have been stood up to; if I was there I would have said something.” Perry muttered under her breath.

“I know you would, but I don’t want you getting in any trouble, you’re not exactly intimidating Perr.”

Her eyes rose to the ceiling for a moment. _If only you knew._

“Besides, I’m not worth the trouble…” They said self-deprecatingly.

Perry’s head moved back down to face LaFontaine so fast, her neck cracked, she took their face in her hands and stroked their cheeks with her thumbs. “Don’t you say anything like that ever again, you mean the world to me, never forget that.”

LaF’s eyes stayed trained on her, which did nothing for Perry’s concentration. “You’re the biggest thing in my world, Perr.”

Before she could reply, a sound uttered from Perry’s apartment.

 _You steal me away_  
_with your eyes and with your mouth_  
_and just take me back to a room in your house_  
_And stare at me with the lights off_

LaFontaine’s expression turned from unreadable to confused. “Is there someone in your apartment?”

Perry opened her mouth but no answer came out.

“Hey Perry!” Laura shouted from outside. “I tried to turn your radio on but now it’s stuck, sorry!”

LaFontaine shrugged in acceptance. “Well that explains that then, when I’ve cleaned up I’ll take you out to lunch, my treat.”

They got to their feet and walked into the kitchen to find cleaning supplies, Perry straightened up and sighed in relief.

Thank the lord for Laura Hollis and her quick thinking.

* * *

 

When winter hit Styria, everyone holed up in their apartments and heaters were at maximum with all available blankets out. Laura forced everyone into regular movie nights or anything that gave them an excuse to spend time together, they all looked ridiculous in their onesies but it was part of the charm.

Of course, Carmilla was still walking around in crop tops and leather pants.

Of course the torment form the radio was till occurring, however LaFontaine had sort of lost interest in it, Laura and Carmilla still found humour in the whole situation amongst their nudging to tell LaFontaine how she feels.

Not an option.

One particular night, they were watching horror movies, Laura had her face hidden in Carmilla’s neck and Perry and LaFontaine were huddled together on the sofa in Perry’s apartment, it was her turn to host. A popcorn bowl sat on her right leg and LaFontaine’s left.

“You look like such a couple.” Carmilla stated from her laying down position on the other sofa, Laura’s muffled giggling could be heard too.

LaFontaine scoffed. “As if, Dracula.”

Perry moved forward and turned to face them. “Is it really such a bad thing to you?”

LaFontaine’s head turned sideways in confusion. “Perr, what?”

She shook her head rapidly, stuttering in her attempt to backpedal. “Forget I said anythi-“

 _I've longed to discover_  
_Something as true as this is_  
_So with a thousand sweet kisses, I'll cover you_  
_(If you're cold and you're lonely)_  
_With a thousand sweet kisses, I'll cover you_  
_(You've got one nickel only)_

Laura’s smile dropped as she turned to the radio, she looked back to see Perry shaking as she jumped away from LaFontaine and turned to the offending item.

LaFontaine stood up too and reached out to grab their friend’s arm.

Perry’s arm reared back and she flung her arm forward and her open palm faced the radio.

LaF’s eyebrows raised and they opened their mouth to ask what in the name of Darwin she was doing, but their sight was drawn to the radio which had just uttered a cracking sound. The sound cut off abruptly and it began to cave in on itself, first the speakers and then everything else until it was nothing more than a tiny cube on the table.

LaFontaine looked astounded, Laura and Carmilla hadn’t moved from their position on the sofa, Perry was breathing heavily as she looked at the space where her archenemy had once been. She turned to LaFontaine and waited for a response.

“So this is why you always got so angry whenever I used to discredit the existence of magic?”

Perry nodded.

They chuckled for a few seconds before turning to Perry and placing a kiss on her cheek; she blushed as LaF pulled away and fiddled with the lapels of their blazer.

“Looks like we have two pretty serious things to discuss tonight.”

Perry looked at the floor as she smiled bashfully, LaFontaine took her hand and squeezed it lightly, Carmilla was grumbling as she gave Laura 20 euros, Laura took her money and grinned.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed :)
> 
> Songs used:  
> Helpless - Hamilton  
> Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds  
> Somebody Else - The 1975  
> Touch - Daughter  
> I'll Cover You - RENT


End file.
